Staples Selling Computers Containing Old User Data

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It is bad enough that Staples got caught trying to pass off used computer parts as new but, to top it off, they left user data on them as well. :eek:

According to the CBC, the Canadian Privacy Commissioner's office performed an audit or 149 storage devices (computers, USB drives, and memory cards) that had supposedly undergone a memory wipe and were intended for resale by Staples. Unfortunately, the audit still managed to discover data — anything from bank and tax information to passport numbers and academic transcripts — on 54 of the devices.
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heh.. So you buy something at staples & have better then a 33% chance of getting someone else's shit.. Could be handy for social engineers..
 
while i dont want to let staples off the hook here, but it is the responsibility of the person returning said device to staples to wipe their own damn data off it beforehand.. else they get what they deserve.
 
You've got to love Staples response that basically amounted to - 'Oh yeah?! Well everybody else in our industry sucks just as much as us at wiping data.'
 
I think the bigger question is,why would ANYONE buy a pc of any kind from Staples?
We must educate the masses!
 
It's probably not as bad as it sounds.

These would be computers returned within the return period, and then formatted and restored. In other words, most of them would have very little personal data on them, and that would only be accessible with an undelete program, which few people ever use, or would only use long after the personal data was over-written.
 
Heh staples can try and claim it's industry standard for returned products, but it's definitely not here (think i'll go across the road and laugh at them a bit for this.. or poke fun at them in our next ad). I have a dedicated computer specifically so anything returned to our store, or even computers abandoned here to be taken to landfill gets cleaned using acronis disk eraser DOD method.
 
Anyone with one quarter common sense can see that Staples is the last place you want sucking down your money. They would be better off hiring grade schoolers to work theirt stores.
 
[Retaliation];1037418786 said:
I think the bigger question is,why would ANYONE buy a pc of any kind from Staples?
We must educate the masses!
Click to expand...
A year or so ago there was a hot deals thread about a clearance desktop pc at staples. If I remember correctly it was an AMD dual core machine for about $130 or so.
Anyway, I found one at a local store using their online inventory check, but they wouldn't sell it to me. First they said it was broken, but I wanted to know what was broken. If a corner of the case was broken or something, well, who cares.
Later a manager came out and told me that it had been a return from a customer, and they could not sell it until it had been wiped, and they couldn't do it there, they sent them out to get it done. I told them I could help them do it right there, but they refused. I'm sure they were lying and someone there bought it for themselves?
 
I've bought used computers with past taxes, SS numbers, bank account information, an active amazon account password, email accounts and even video one dude's honeymoon. I called one guy to tell him his private info. was still on a notebook I bought from him...he didn't care lol. I wiped it all before re-selling them...but..some people are just careless about their personal information. I almost think they left it there subconsciously...a form a vanity or just wanting other people to see who they are...I dunno. :confused:
 
Steve said:
It is bad enough that Staples got caught trying to pass off used computer parts as new but, to top it off, they left user data on them as well. :eek:
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Neither articles mentioned that Staples tried to pass off the used equipment as new.

True that Staples should do a better job of wiping the existing data before reselling, but the previous owners should be responsible of safeguarding their own personal information better.

It's like buying a purse/wallet from a store. But later you decide to return it, conciously without emptying the contents. So it's full of money, credit cards, IDs, etc. Who's to blame? The vendor reselling the purse/wallet?
 
jalaj said:
Neither articles mentioned that Staples tried to pass off the used equipment as new.

True that Staples should do a better job of wiping the existing data before reselling, but the previous owners should be responsible of safeguarding their own personal information better.

It's like buying a purse/wallet from a store. But later you decide to return it, conciously without emptying the contents. So it's full of money, credit cards, IDs, etc. Who's to blame? The vendor reselling the purse/wallet?
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umm, they do do it. Trust me, when a seal is broken on a box, you know it's not new. They don't even offer an open box discount now either because it's been "certified by their technicians".

@ [Retaliation]

staples has some incredible clearance prices. I got a HP mini for 130+ tax. I ended up reselling it for 250.

P.S. can't say i was expecting the link to show up here.. but i'm the guy that sent the link to consumerist ^^
 
[Retaliation];1037418786 said:
I think the bigger question is,why would ANYONE buy a pc of any kind from Staples?
We must educate the masses!
Click to expand...

Yes as others are saying they have very good prices sometime. In 2008 I got my Dell Studio 15 with Core 2 Duo 2 Ghz, ATI Mobility 3450, 320 GB HD and 4 GB of ram from there for $800- that was better than the same configuration on Dell with an educational discount

Just recently I bought a 19" Acer LED monitor there for $99, pretty decent for a store price
 
LordCalin said:
Heh staples can try and claim it's industry standard for returned products, but it's definitely not here (think i'll go across the road and laugh at them a bit for this.. or poke fun at them in our next ad). I have a dedicated computer specifically so anything returned to our store, or even computers abandoned here to be taken to landfill gets cleaned using acronis disk eraser DOD method.
Click to expand...

The difference is, you have restore discs to do that. I'm willing to bet 90% of the systems they sell do not, and most don't give a option to make your own restore disc, so as the CBC story states, a full wipe is not possible as they wouldn't be able to restore it.
 
I don't buy that excuse. Sure, most laptops don't come with restore discs. Instead they have restore partitions which are very easy to use. Hit a certain Function key when booting and follow the instructions.
That's not a perfect wipe, but it would stop most people from getting anything from the drive.
 
Ryokurin said:
The difference is, you have restore discs to do that. I'm willing to bet 90% of the systems they sell do not, and most don't give a option to make your own restore disc, so as the CBC story states, a full wipe is not possible as they wouldn't be able to restore it.
Click to expand...

Restore discs are always a separate partition, so there is no excuse at all.
 
But the proper way to do it is to use a utility that can overwrite the entire drive several times and then reinstall, something that a lot of utilities lack. (that is just wipe one partition, not the entire drive) No doubt they used the restore partition, but just formatting and reinstalling does not guarantee that nothing can be recovered.
 
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